In Florida today, RNC chair Reince Priebus said he hopes Republicans can avoid a debate on immigration while they court Hispanics. In response, DNC Hispanic Caucus Chair Iris Y. Martinez released the following statement:

Just days after GOP presidential candidates shunned a national Latino audience and missed an opportunity open a dialogue with our community on solutions for fixing our broken immigration system, the head of the Republican Party unveiled the Republicans’ real plan for immigration this election cycle: ignore the Hispanic community and hide their disastrous record on immigration.

Hispanics are aware of the GOP’s plan to take us back to the very same failed economic policies that took our economy to the brink of disaster and to balance our nation’s debt on the backs of working Americans – and they’ve seen what the GOP has proposed on immigration for the past two years. Republicans have abandoned Hispanics over the far right and have offered nothing but slurs against immigrants, supported a far-right patchwork of unworkable immigration laws and revoking birthright citizenship, all while opposing every effort by President Obama to move forward on common-sense immigration measures.

If Priebus thinks Hispanics are not paying attention, he needs to wake up and pay attention. To quote the well-known salsa classic, Priebus is "Soñando Despierto."

Earlier today, President Obama addressed the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic advocacy organization in the country. He talked about a range of issues, from the economy to debt negotiations to the DREAM Act—and above all else, the President reminded the audience one key detail: “The Democrats and your President are with you.”

The President underscored the importance of growing the economy, a priority for our country and the Hispanic community alike:

My number-one priority, every single day, is to figure out how we can get businesses to hire and create jobs with decent wages. And in the short-term, there are some things we can do right away. I want to extend tax relief that we already put in place for middle-class families, to make sure that folks have more money in their paychecks. And I want to cut red tape that keeps entrepreneurs from turning new ideas into thriving businesses. I want to sign trade deals so our businesses can sell more goods made in America to the rest of the world, especially to the Americas.

And the hundreds of thousands of construction workers -- many of them Latino -- who lost their jobs when the housing bubble burst, I want to put them back to work rebuilding our roads and our bridges and new schools and airports all across the country. There is work to be done. These workers are ready to do it.

As a long-standing supporter of the DREAM Act, the President reaffirmed his commitment to passing this critical legislation as well as the need to move forward with comprehensive reform—and he called on those committed to that goal to help him get this done:

Five years ago, 23 Republican senators supported comprehensive immigration reform because they knew it was the right thing to do for the economy and it was the right thing to do for America. Today, they’ve walked away. Republicans helped write the DREAM Act because they knew it was the right thing to do for the country. Today, they’ve walked away. Last year, we passed the DREAM Act through the House only to see it blocked by Senate Republicans. It was heartbreaking to get so close and see politics get in the way, particularly because some of the folks who walked away had previously been sponsors of this.

Now, all that has to change. And part of the problem is, is that the political winds have changed. That’s left states to come up with patchwork versions of reform that don’t solve the problem. You and I know that's not the right way to go. We can’t have 50 immigration laws across the country.

So, yes, feel free to keep the heat on me and keep the heat on Democrats. But here’s the only thing you should know. The Democrats and your President are with you. Are with you. Don't get confused about that. Remember who it is that we need to move in order to actually change the laws.

Click here to read the President’s full speech to La Raza.